>From: Le Monde diplomatique <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Le Monde diplomatique > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > April 2000 > > >LEADER > >Fragile new economy * > >by IGNACIO RAMONET > > <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/04/01leader> > > Translated by Ed Emery > > >MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD DIVIDED > >Islam on message for modernity > >by our special correspondent WENDY KRISTIANASEN > > The Clinton-Assad meeting in Geneva on 26 March confirmed the > complexity of the Arab-Israeli negotiations. Peace looks uncertain, > just as the Middle East faces a perilous transition from one > generation to the next: new leaders have taken over in Jordan and > Saudi Arabia; next it will be the turn of Syria and Palestine. Once > unstoppable, political Islam is suddenly marking time as people > question whether it has the answers to the complex problems of > today's societies. Meanwhile rising through its ranks, its younger > voices are demanding a more modern outlook of the oldest and most > powerful of the Islamist organisations, the Muslim Brotherhood. > > Original text in English > >A row in the family * > >W. K. > > <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/04/03tanzim> > > Original text in English > > >THE DESERT KINGDOM: BALANCING OIL, RELIGION AND REFORM > >The world invades Saudi Arabia > >by our special correspondent ALAIN GRESH > > Young men dressed in their traditional long white robes and sitting > in cybercaf�s, cellphone to hand; women students shrouded in black, > but more numerous than their male counterparts; companies that have > grown in the shadow of the state and are now being privatised: as > it begins to feel the pressures of globalisation Saudi Arabia is > wondering about its future and its values. Crown Prince Abdullah is > determined the economy should change but the forces of conservatism > are powerful and vested interests innumerable. > > Translated by Harry Forster > > >CRIME, THE WORLD'S BIGGEST FREE ENTERPRISE > >Thick as thieves > >by CHRISTIAN de BRIE > > By allowing capital to flow unchecked from one end of the world to > the other, globalisation and abandon of sovereignty have together > fostered the explosive growth of an outlaw financial market. Indeed > the engine of capitalist expansion is now oiled by the profits of > serious crime. From time to time something is done to give the > impression of waging war on the rapidly expanding banking and tax > havens. If governments really wanted to, they could right this > overnight. But though there are calls for zero tolerance of petty > crime and unemployment, nothing is being done about the big money > crimes. > > Translated by Malcolm Greenwood > >The dark side of globalisation > >by JEAN DE MAILLARD > > On the night of 24-25 March 1999 Nato unleashed an air attack on > Yugoslavia that lasted for 78 days. How should the operation be > viewed one year on? The suffering of the Kosovar Albanians has > ended and the refugees have returned to their homes - more often > than not destroyed - but Kosovo's Serbs and Gypsies have in turn > been forced to leave. Mitrovica, the last great multiethnic city, > is the scene of fearsome clashes. And Slobodan Milosevic is still > in power in Belgrade. Such a failure means the real nature of this > war needs to be examined. The "genocide" of the Kosovar Albanians > had to be stopped. But was it not a question of the United States > using Nato to imposing its grip on the Balkans? Which would explain > why the allies stubbornly refused any diplomatic solution. > > Translated by Malcolm Greenwood > > >HAS GLOBALISATION REALLY MADE NATIONS REDUNDANT? > >The states we are still in > >by NO�LLE BURGI and PHILIP S. GOLUB > > From Gerhard Schr�der to Massimo D'Alema, via Tony Blair and the > apostles of the Third Way, Europe's politicians go on and on about > less government and the weak state. In the same vein, many scholars > argue that the nation state is a thing of the past. But these myths > do not stand up to analysis. Worse still, they conceal the new > configuration of power in the international system and lend > legitimacy to the antisocial policies accompanying globalisation. > > Translated by Barry Smerin > >Then and now * > > <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/04/08golub> > > Translated by Barry Smerin > > >TWO CHINAS FACE OFF ACROSS THE STRAITS > >How Taiwan's elections will affect the world > >by FRAN�OIS GODEMENT > > A new chapter has opened in the history of Taiwan. After 50 years > in power, the Kuomintang collapsed at the presidential elections on > 18 March, with its candidate Lien Chan collecting only 23% of the > votes, far behind the winner Chen Shui-bian (39%). This affirmation > of democracy on the island is a challenge to Beijing, which is > seeing the prospect of reunification, under the conditions the > Chinese Communist Party wants, fade ever further into the distance. > The threats the party is making against Taiwan highlight mounting > tensions among its leaders. And a dangerous escalation between the > two Chinas cannot be entirely ruled out. > > Translated by Derry Cook-Radmore > > >NOSTALGIA FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS > >Czech Communist Party's velvet return > >by ADAM NOVAK > > Seven years after they parted company both Czechs and Slovaks are > in economic, social and political crisis. In Slovakia, the period > of grace accorded to Vladimir Meciar's successors is already ending > in rejection of the shaky coalition's austerity programme. In the > Czech Republic, renewed support for the Communist Party reflects > growing opposition to the economic transition now jointly managed > by social democrats and conservatives. > > Translated by Barry Smerin > > >WHAT ALMODOVAR'S MOVIES REVEAL ABOUT THE RISE OF THE RIGHT > >Spain on the verge of a nervous breakdown > >by JOS� VIDAL-BENEYTO > > On 12 March the Spanish right, led by Jos� Maria Aznar, won an > absolute majority in the parliamentary elections. The socialists > and communists suffered their worst defeat since democracy was > restored to Spain. How did the People's Party, with its historic > links with dictatorship and the direct heir of Franco's > socio-economics, manage this landslide win? Analysis of the films > of Pedro Almod�var, who has just collected an Oscar in Hollywood, > helps provide an answer. > > Translated by Derry Cook-Radmore > > >KOHL'S CHRISTIAN-DEMOCRAT SCANDALS > >Secrets and spies in Germany > >by CHRISTIAN SEMLER > > The Christian Democrats meet for their party congress in Essen on > 10 April. Their aim is to put the Kohl scandal behind them and > resume their attacks on the coalition led by Gerhard Schr�der, > fighting for the "centre" of German political life. The election of > Angelika Merkel, now the only candidate for party leadership, will > be particularly symbolic. If the CDU can overcome the growing > contradictions between its traditional values and liberal > commitments, it will survive the damage of the Kohl affair. > > Translated by Harry Forster > > >AFRICAN PEACE IF NOT YET PLENTY > >Somalia re-invents itself > >by GERARD PRUNIER > > When UN forces withdrew in March 1995 the outside world forgot > about Somalia. But this fragmented country has survived. It has not > sunk into the further anarchy some predicted, but has gradually > recreated itself from an original blueprint that bears no > resemblance to the international community's clumsy attempts to > "invent" a government for Somalia in the 1990s. But the south of > the country is still at war, and a peace conference of > representatives of the Somali clans is due to begin in Djibouti on > 20 April. > > Translated by Julie Stoker > > >THE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE GOES ONLINE > >Comeback of an education racket * > >by DAVID F. NOBLE > > The world's bigger universities are now developing distance > education through the internet, on the basis of its effectiveness > as a learning tool. But correspondence instruction, already > discredited at the start of the 20th century, is also a lucrative > business. > > <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/04/14noble> > > Original text in english > > >BACK PAGE > >Show us the truth about Vietnam * > >by IGNACIO RAMONET > > <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/04/15vietnam> > > Translated by Ed Emery > > > > > English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen > _________________________________________________________________ > > ALL RIGHTS RESERVED � 1997-2000 Le Monde diplomatique > ><http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/04/> > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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